We have our health checked periodically because it just makes sense. We want to head off any problems, check in on any little worries and basically just take care that we are doing what we can to preserve our health. When it comes to our financial health, the same applies. If you haven’t given yourself a quick financial health check-up in a while, it’s time.
Here are the three check-up steps to take:
Check that your financial know-how is current. Take the Money Smart “Money IQ Quiz”, check your score and read up on any questions where you could have done better. It takes about 10 minutes to both take the quiz and read the results and you’re bound to learn some things of value.
Check your spending. Studies have shown that over 50% of Americans do not really know how they spend their money, they just think they do. The best way to know for sure is to track all your spending for 30 days. I do this about every 4 years or so and I always learn something that makes it well worth the 2 hours involved (2 minutes/day plus about an hour to add up the numbers, annualize them and think about them). If you’ve never done this before, what you’ll learn is likely to prove invaluable in helping you to maximize the use of your money.
Check your credit report. You are entitled to a free annual credit report from each of the 3 main credit bureaus. Getting one of them every 4 months improves your control over identity theft, credit errors and any situations where someone is pulling a report on your credit that you didn’t know about. If you haven’t done this in a while, you can get free reports from AnnualCreditReport.com.
Bonus checks:
Update your financial plan, annually. Don’t have a written plan? It’s a good idea to establish one, because without one it’s nearly impossible to reach your financial goals. Did you know that a study of a Harvard graduating class found that the 3% that had a written plan at the time they graduated went on to make more money than the other 97% combined? That’s 33 times more money than their fellow Harvard graduates that did not have a written plan. That’s one heck of a message. It’s not difficult. Here are some free easy tools that will get you there.
Spending and Saving Plan Worksheet
Call your cellular, home entertainment and internet providers. It pays to do this every 12 months because their game changes so very rapidly these days. Start by telling them it’s more than you are willing to pay. That won’t get you much, so once they’ve given you whatever they do, tell them it is just not enough and ask them “How do I do about closing my account?” That will get you transferred to their Customer Retention Group where they are able to give you a much better deal than what you got from the first person. It’s not uncommon to knock $20, $30, or even $50 a month off your bill. Now that’s serious money for a 10 minute call!
If you make good money for your time, call into my radio show on Saturday between 5:00 and 6:00 pacific time to share your story.
So look after your health, and your financial health too. Peace of mind and big payoffs will be your reward.